Surprising ways sex reduces stress

Sex is a great marketing tool – from selling cars to food to magazines, sex sells. Here’s another spin-off of intimacy – sex is great medicine for de-stressing, boosting your immune system, deepening your connection with a loved one, and is simply fun. When life gets stressful, consider sex as a go-to stress reliever. For instance, you have a major presentation to give tomorrow morning in front of your work colleagues.  Have sex.  You are feeling uptight about the results of a medical test.  Have sex.  You’ve had a very stressful day with your children.  Have sex.

When the demands of daily life become overwhelming, one of the best ways to defeat it can be to have sex.  Even though stressful situations may have the upper hand in lowering our libido, sex is also one of the best defenses of lowering stress when life feels like a pressure cooker. Having sex can be the perfect antidote letting off some steam releasing built-up tension leading to a more relaxed way of facing the day.

So, when the day is becoming one stressful situation after another, here is why having sex can be one of your best stress management tools to turn to:

·      Sex sets the mood for the day

Sex is great medicine to de-stress, have fun and deepen your connection with your loved one. It is not simply a pure physical act but also relies on emotional and even spiritual components greatly enhancing the experience of this act. 

Engaging in sex begins the process of a cascade of simultaneously released hormones.  Expect increased levels of the intimacy-building hormone oxytocin along with an explosion of the release of anxiety-relieving endorphins which cement bonding and trust between us and our lover.  All these feel-good sensations are linked with lowering negativity and stress and ultimately, put us in a much better mood the next day.  Basically, sex sets the tone for how well your day may turn out to be.

·      Sex  lowers blood pressure

You know how you can almost feel your blood pressure rising when under stress?  Maybe you had a tense argument with your spouse or are having difficulty fixing something that is broken.  A romp in the hay can be one way to ease tension bringing down blood pressure. 

When you need some time for chilling out, make sex a part of that process.  Relaxing by having sex is good for your heart – if under too much stress, stress hormones constrict your blood vessels speeding up your heart rate, increasing your risk of a heart attack.  Research has also suggested a link between sex and keeping blood pressure in check.  Studies have found that sexual intercourse specifically (not masturbation) can lower systolic blood pressure, which is the first number of a blood pressure test.

·      Sex and marital happiness

Regular sex as part of a supportive emotional relationship found in marriage is especially good for chasing away stress.  When emotions of stress, anger, anxiety, or loneliness raise their ugly heads, having sex is one way to combat the negativity they bring. 

Marriage does come with many perks but one that researchers at Carnegie Mellon University found was the significant boost in battling stress and maintaining good health.  Married people tend to have lower levels of the stress hormone cortisol.  People under prolonged stress will have higher levels of cortisol which can interfere with the body’s ability to regulate inflammation which could lead to the development and progression of many diseases.

·      Sex and orgasm

How could an article on sex and stress be complete without mentioning the importance of orgasm?  Achieving the pinnacle of supreme stress release, orgasm itself has its own very special way of relaxing your body releasing the various hormones supportive of your overall health and wellness.  When in the throes of passion, orgasm can temporarily take you mind off worries providing some stress relief.

In addition, the deep, relaxed type of breathing experienced during sex releases built-up tension leading to better feelings of relaxation and peace.  The sense of touch and being touched is excellent for our emotional health.  Why do so many people love to get a massage?  Having a massage from your lover can help relieve neck tension, loosen up tight shoulders, ease lower back pain and soothe tired feet.  All of which can help you feel and be a much better person ready to tackle any stressful event that comes your way.